


...I Will Remember

by WonderBoy



Series: The Return [3]
Category: The Underland Chronicles - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Boots-centric, F/M, Future Fic, Gen, Older Characters, sequel fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-24
Updated: 2014-07-24
Packaged: 2018-02-10 04:37:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2011185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WonderBoy/pseuds/WonderBoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Margaret left the Underland thirteen years ago and her odd collection of memories of the strange land left her confused and out of place until Gregor helped remind her</p><p>Or, I finally got around to writing the sequel to my other fic and Gregor and Boots finally made it back to the Underland</p>
            </blockquote>





	...I Will Remember

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pseudophoenix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pseudophoenix/gifts), [MrFosterKF](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrFosterKF/gifts).



> I finally got around to writing this woohoo
> 
> I feel like I could just keep writing stories to go along with this idea 
> 
> Anyhow I felt like this was getting sort of long and I didn't want to ruin it more than I might have so I stopped

Gregor stopped Margaret at the door of their apartment.

“Boots, how um…how much do those clothes mean to you?” He asked. A small backpack that Gregor had bought a few months ago was thrown over his shoulder but other than that his clothes were old, ripped and stained things he wore only when he had especially messy jobs to do. Margaret looked down at her jean cutoff shorts, t-shirt, and flip-flops.

“Not much I guess.”

Gregor nodded. “Alright then, we’re all set to go.” Margaret didn’t bother asking why as Gregor led the way out of their apartment and down the stairs. She didn’t think she should speak more than necessary. Her insides felt all twisted up. She swore her excitement must have been palpable-how else could she explain the buzzing under her skin, making it feel as if she could take to the skies at any moment. After all these years, she was going to find out what had happened to Gregor. She was going to learn all the secrets her family wasn’t willing to share.

The two reached the lobby of their apartment complex, and Margaret immediately headed towards the front door but Gregor stopped her at the last minute and led her down the stairs to the basement. What was he doing? The only thing down there was the laundry room. Margaret had spent more time down in the drab room doing laundry with Gregor than she would care to think.

“I probably shouldn’t take you this way,” Gregor said near the bottom of the stair case. Despite the fact that he was obviously addressing her as he spoke, Margaret had a feeling Gregor was thinking aloud more than hosting a conversation. “But the trip will be faster this way since we’re arriving a little early.” They reached the laundry room. It was empty. A plastic, broken laundry basket had been left on top of one of the washing machines and a dirty Barbie doll had been abandoned near the corner of the room. Gregor looked back at Margaret and grinned. “Call me sentimental but I think it’s fitting for you to return this way too.”

Margaret watched with a mix of horror and curiosity as Gregor wrestled the metal grate off an old air duct that had been hidden behind a dryer.

“Did I ever mention that this is the apartment building I grew up in?” Gregor took Margaret’s hand and led her to the air duct. It seemed pretty large but she was still unsure if they would fit. Gregor seemed confident however as he put one leg into the hole. Margaret shook her head. “I’m going to go down first to make sure it’s safe.” Mist was slowly starting to pool out of the opening and onto the basement floor where it quickly dispersed into the air. “Wait maybe five minutes and then go through.” Gregor was now sitting in the opening, more into the air duct than the basement. He looked back at Margaret one last time. “I promise you’ll be okay.” Gregor disappeared into the darkness.

More mist was coming out from the grate and Margaret hesitantly reached out to run her hand through it. It was cool to the touch but it seemed pretty harmless. Margaret took a deep breath and looked at her watch. Four minutes to go.

Margaret learned four minutes is a surprisingly long time when you’re left alone in a basement preparing to jump down a dark hole after your older brother and learn the answers to questions about your family you’ve been asking practically since you could talk-give or take a few years. Every noise made her jump. She kept expecting someone to come into the laundry room and stop her from jumping through a mysterious hole in the wall. Margaret tried listening for noise coming from the hole at one point but other than the faint sound of wind whistling somewhere far off, she couldn’t detect any noise.

Though she was anxious to follow after her brother, once the five minutes were up-Margaret was a little nervous about jumping down the air duct. But Gregor promised her she’d be okay before he left and there was no one in the world Margaret trusted more than Gregor. Following after Gregor’s example, Margaret stuck one leg into the air duct, then another, closed her eyes and fell.

There was no way to tell how long she spent falling before she heard Gregor’s voice. She landed on her rear end.

“This was a lot easier when I was eleven.”  Gregor laughed, offering a hand to help Margaret up. “Sorry about that.” Margaret waved off her brother’s apology and looked around, trying to pick out anything special about where they were standing but it just seemed like a large, dark cave. A small opening near the other end of the cave allowed in just enough light for Margaret to be able to see Gregor’s face. Her brother seemed so at home in the strange, dark, cave she could hardly recognize him. Gregor saw her looking around and he grinned.

“So, what do you think of the Underland?”

“Uh…”

Gregor laughed before Margaret could come up with something to say. Taking her hand, he led her towards the small opening in the cave. “It gets better I promise.”

Gregor began leading Margaret through a long tunnel. There were all sorts of twists and turns in the tunnel and occasionally Gregor would pause, make a few clicking noises with his tongue and then continue on. Margaret remembered Gregor making similar noises as she was growing up. Thinking back on it now, once a terrible storm in Virginia caused the family to lose power for three days and at night, Lizzie would occasionally make the same clicking noises.

The faint whistling of wind that Margaret had heard coming from the air duct was gone but occasionally some kind of shuffling could be heard in the distance. Sometimes it sounded like hundreds of little feet skittering across the ground, other times there was a quiet fluttering like something with wings taking off-either way, things were definitely moving all around them. None of it seemed to faze Gregor so Margaret tried her best to be unbothered by the noise.

Margaret swore at least twenty minutes had to have passed before the tunnel started to seem a bit lighter. Gregor slowed his pace as they got to a sudden sharp slope in the ground and something soft brushed over them. The light intensified even more and Margaret felt momentarily blinded. As Margaret was adjusting to the new lighting, she heard all sorts of different sounds. People were talking and laughing around them. Something, possibly leather, bounced off a nearby surface and the same fluttering from the tunnels could be heard again-only this time much louder.

“Gregor!” Someone called. A man who had to be nearing his forties clapped Gregor on the back, grinning as he did so. “Welcome Overlander. It is good to see you again.” Gregor hugged the man.

“It’s great to see you again as well, Mareth, but what in the world are you doing down here?” Gregor responded as he broke their hug. Mareth looked back at the field.

“Hazard disappeared this morning and no one else was available.” Mareth sighed.

“Weren’t new nibbler pups supposed to be born today?” Gregor asked. Mareth seemed to consider the suggestion for a moment.

“Queen Luxa and her flier were absent this morning as well…How you manage to know more about what is happening in the Underland than I do, I may never understand.” Mareth complained. He then turned his attention to Margaret who felt a little uncomfortable under his surprised gaze.

“Overlander…”

Gregor was grinning as he took a step back and presented Margaret to Mareth.

“Boots, it’s been a long time since the two of you last saw each other so let me reintroduce you. This is Mareth, an old friend. Mareth, this is Margaret, but everyone here knows her as ‘Boots’.”

Margaret who wasn’t known for being shy, ever, pushed aside the foreign feeling of nervousness that she was experiencing in this new world and offered a hand for a handshake. “It’s nice to meet you. Again, I suppose.” Mareth rather awkwardly returned the handshake but he was smiling again which helped to ease some of Margaret’s worries. He seemed like a nice man, even if his appearance was rather unsettling at first glance. Margaret had never seen someone quite as pale as he was.

“I suppose we should head towards-woah!” Gregor never got to finish his sentence as he was swept into the air. Margaret gasped as she looked to the air and saw two huge bats- _fliers_ she corrected in her mind-holding onto Gregor’s shirt and taking him higher and higher into the air. When the fliers reached the curved top of the stadium-like area they were in-they dropped him. Margaret gasped while Mareth laughed. At the last minute the two fliers dived down and caught Gregor, allowing him to land gently on his feet.  Both fliers landed next to Gregor. The larger of the two fliers was golden while the other was all black, save for a stripe of white that diagonally cut across its chest.

“Welcome Overlander!” The black flier chirped. Margaret was pretty sure she gasped then too. There were a lot of things she might have expected coming down to the “Underland” with her brother who was a mystery all on his own, but talking animals did not make that list. Gregor tilted his head and studied the flier for a few moments before he laughed.

“Pluto, is that you? The last time I was down here I could still hold you in my arms, what have they been feeding you?” Gregor turned to the other flier. “And Aurora, I expected that kind of behavior from him as soon as he was big enough, but not you.” The golden flier made an odd noise Margaret thought might be laughter and nudged him gently.

“It is nice to see you again Overlander. Luxa will be pleased to know you have come.”

“Welcome back to the Underland, Princess.” Margaret turned around to see another flier standing next to her. This flier was white with dramatic black stripes decorating her face. “I am known as Nike.”

“It’s nice to me-” Margaret paused. “I suppose we’ve met before, haven’t we?”

Nike nodded. “Yes when you were much smaller.” Nike turned around. “Allow me to take you to the palace.”

Margaret looked to Gregor, to see what she should do. At the same moment Gregor looked back to her and Aurora leaned down to say something to Gregor that Margaret could not hear. Gregor nodded in understanding and sent a reassuring smile to Margaret. Margaret watched him climb onto Aurora’s back and the golden flier took to the air. Hesitantly, Margaret tried to copy his movements in order to ride on Nike’s back. She was a bit worried about hurting the creature, but if she did, Nike showed no sign of it.

The ride to the palace was short and exhilarating. Actual flying was more amazing than she could ever have guessed. When the fliers dropped her and Gregor off, she was sad to see them go-sad to have her feet on solid ground once again.

“That was amazing!” Margaret exclaimed. Gregor laughed, pulling her towards him for a quick hug.

“I’m glad you liked it. I have to say I did not take to flying right away myself.” Gregor admitted. He began to lead them down a hall lit by an extensive amount of torches. Which made sense based on the lack of natural light this land had.

“Where are we going now?” Margaret asked. A beautiful city was laid out in front of the palace the fliers had dropped them off at and she would have loved to explore it. The trip to the palace had dispersed the last of Margaret’s nervousness and now she wanted to learn all about this strange new world.

“We have to take a bath.” Gregor explained to her. “Despite the fact that they’re now living in a time of peace, old habits die hard.”

Margaret was going to ask what Gregor meant by that but a young woman a few years older than Gregor joined them in the hallway a few feet away.

“I am normally asked to take care of babies but I requested to help the Overlanders when I learned that Boots had returned to the Underland.” The woman said as a greeting.

“It’s nice to see you again, Dulcet.” Gregor replied. Gregor looked at Margaret. “Dulcet took care of you when we first came here.”

“It is good to see how you have grown.” Dulcet said to Margaret with a kind smile. “You may both follow me this way.”

Dulcet led them into a room divided by a large stone wall. Gregor went to the right and Dulcet led Margaret to the left. Dulcet explained to Margaret what the things in the room were and then left her alone to bathe.

The “bath” was rather odd and very different from anything Margaret had used before but the experience was rather pleasant. When she finished up, Margaret found some silky, light-colored clothing left in place of the clothes she had taken off and simple sandals in place of her flip flops. Hesitantly, Margaret left the room. Gregor was standing in the hallway, dressed in similar clothing that looked rather odd against his visible tattoos. A man a few years older than Gregor, dressed mostly in white, was talking animatedly with him. Like the other humans Margaret had seen in this place, the man had nearly translucent skin, silvery hair, and violet eyes. Though it took a bit to get used to, she was now beginning to see the beauty in the strange, exotic coloring. The man saw her and grinned, waving for her to come closer.

“Boots,” The man said pleasantly. “I am told my bond, Nike, aided you to the palace.” Margaret nodded. “I am Howard, cousin to the queen of Regalia, doctor here, and old friends with Gregor.” Howard looked back to Gregor. “I need to get back to the hospital. I wanted to make sure I saw you before you left however.”

“We’ll be here for a few days at least,” Gregor promised. “But it was nice seeing you again, Howard. I’m sorry I missed you last time I was down.”

Howard brought both Overlanders into a tight hug before he turned back down the hallway and disappeared from sight.

Gregor smiled at Margaret and offered her his arm. “There are a few more people who want to see you. And so we’ve been invited to dine with the royal family.” The way Gregor said it, Margaret felt like there was some kind of joke she wasn’t quite getting. But she was in the Underland, she reminded herself. She would understand eventually.

“Tell me about them.” Margaret prompted as they walked. “I’m guessing I’ve met them all before?”

Gregor laughed. “Yes, you have. The queen is Luxa, as I mentioned.”

“Your ‘friend’.” Margaret added. “Is Luxa a ‘friend’ or a ‘special friend’?” Gregor actually looked to be blushing when he turned away from her.

“I’m not answering that.” Margaret giggled. “Anyways, Luxa’s cousin is named Hazard. He’s a little different from the other Underlanders that you’ve met so far today but the two of you were pretty good friends when you were kids. Nerissa is another one of Luxa’s cousins that lives here but I don’t know if she will join us. Vikus is Luxa , Nerissa, Howard, and Hazard’s grandfather.” Gregor was quiet for a few moments, as if he was thinking. “Ripred will probably be there as well…He’s not exactly…Ripred is…” Gregor gave up trying to explain Ripred after a few tries. “Ripred is a little rough around the edges but he means well, usually. Aurora and Euripedes might be at dinner as well. They are the flier bonds to Luxa and Vikus.”

“Bonds?” Margaret asked curiously. Howard had used the same term when he spoke about Nike. Gregor absentmindedly ran a hand over his heart, where his tattoo of a bat was.

“In the Underland, humans and fliers form ‘bonds’ where they entrust their lives to each other. A flier and a human will stand, hand in claw in front of an audience and recite a poem swearing their lives to each other. I’m told a feast is usually thrown afterwards but I have never attended one.”

“Not even your own?” Margaret asked, taking a shot in the dark. Gregor, of course, had never told her that he had a bond but his tattoo had a poem about bonding to a flier. Gregor gave her a stiff smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Uh n-no, my bonding to Ares was under…different circumstances than a normal bonding is so we did not get the same treatment as others.”

Margaret squeezed Gregor’s hand. “I’m sorry.” Gregor squeezed her hand back and they continued the rest of their walk in silence.

When the two of them reached their destination, Gregor took a moment to collect himself before he led her inside. Almost instantly, Gregor was pushed against the wall by a huge rat. The rat-or rather gnawer-had to stand at least six feet on its hind legs like it was and a small x-shaped scar decorated its face.

“Overlander, you have to start a war. The way they have been talking around here, I am going to have to die of old age in my sleep or something else equally as dreadful.”

“That’s awful talk for the Peacemaker.” Gregor taunted, not at all bothered by the gnawer who growled at him and dropped back down onto all fours. The gnawer turned around to look at Margaret, nearly knocking Gregor to the ground as he hit him with his tail. Margaret had trouble believing that it was an accident. The gnawer sniffed the air in her general direction a few times.

“Well look who has finally returned to the Underland. It’s the princess.”

“Be nice, Ripred.” Gregor said at the same instance Margaret said “It’s nice to see you again too.”

“Hmph,” Ripred replied, turning to Gregor once again. “Did you bring your other sister as well?”

Gregor’s expression turned a bit regretful. “You know Lizzie has no interest in returning.”

“Well did you at least bring me some of her food?” Ripred asked. Gregor shook his head.

“This was a bit of an impromptu trip. Though I’m sure if Lizzie knew we were coming she would have made your favorite cookies for you like always.” Gregor admitted. So Gregor was to blame for how quickly Lizzie’s homemade cookies disappeared. Lizzie liked to send the two of them treats from time to time and they never seemed to last more than a day, even though Gregor swore up and down that he didn’t eat them all.

“Thank you for being the welcoming committee, Ripred.” Another male voice joined the conversation and an older man entered the room from the back. He was an older man and though he stood tall with his head high and his shoulders back like true royalty, Margaret could tell the steps were not nearly as easy for him as he would like others to believe. “It is nice to see you again, Gregor.” The words sounded a bit odd coming from the older man-like he wasn’t sure if he was saying them right.  “And Boots, welcome back to Regalia.”

“Thank you.” Margaret replied quietly, bowing her head. The older man had a soft, gentle smile that left Margaret completely at ease.

“I am sure my grandchildren will join us shortly.” He told them before he gestured to the long dining table in the middle of the room. “Would you like to sit as we wait for them?”

They all turned towards the table when a loud commotion came from the hallway. Someone was running towards the room they were in. The person passed the room, stopped a few feet away, and came running back. A young man burst into the room.

 _This must be Hazard_ , Margaret thought. The Underlander had the same pale skin as the others but instead of blond hair, he had a head of crazy black curls. And vibrant green eyes.

“I heard you dumped your duties onto Mareth this morning.” Gregor said, nudging the new arrival. The dark-haired Underlander looked a bit embarrassed but he hugged Gregor anyways. Then he turned to Margaret. The young Underlander moved closer to Margaret and took her hands in his. Margaret expected him to say something to her but instead he just studied her. After a few minutes, he opened his mouth, but instead of speaking a series of different clicks and hisses emerged. Margaret blinked in surprise. The Underlander repeated the same pattern again and Margaret almost gasped. She-she could understand him.

Hesitantly, Margaret tried to copy back the noises. She replaced the name “Hazard” with “Boots”. Hazard grinned.

“I knew you would remember.”

Margaret looked back at Gregor and saw he was grinning as widely as she and Hazard were. A young woman was standing next to Gregor smiling softly at the two as well. A small silver crown was perched on her head and a long pale braid was tossed over one shoulder. Gregor and the young woman were holding hands.

“Welcome back to the Underland, Boots.” Luxa greeted.

“It’s nice to be back.” Boots admitted.

**Author's Note:**

> I sort of wanted to name Pluto "Ares", like he was named after a great warrior bat and it's a big honor but then I thought that was cheesy and then I named him Pluto and now I want him to be named Ares anyways. I don't know what I'm doing. 
> 
> I don't know why, but I feel like if nothing else, Boots wouldn't forget learning some of the crawler's language-because she learned it at such a young age and you know children are just little sponges but because no one else in her family learned it, no one realized she remembered it.
> 
> Also I just really wanted to refer to her as Boots in the narrative so I thought, what a better time then when she finally feels familiar with the Underland again (sort of) where everyone knows her as Boots


End file.
